Alt Text

Depending on where it appears, the alt text of the BBC's logo might be "Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation", "BBC" or a null value. In this case, it's the full text of this caption.

Alt text is an attribute of the HTML's <image> and other tags.

It is intended to be presented when the image (or other object) to which it pertains is not available to the user, for instance in a text-only browser or a refreshable Braille display. It is also available for indexing by search engines. It is not intended to provide (though may be presented as) "pop up" text or tooltips when a user's mouse hovers over the image.

The presence of the attribute, which may be null (alt="") is a requirement for HTML standard compliance. However (except for purely decorative images, when it should be null), the use of meaningful alt text is necessary to comply with accessibility standards; and is good practice.

Note: Alt text is commonly, but wrongly, refered to an image's "alt tag".

External links

• W3C page
• Alt text guidance from Alan Flavell
• Dive in to accessibility page on alt text
• Alt text guidelines from Jukka "Yucca" Korpela